mergers & acquisitions – BU Nowhttp://blogs.bu.edu/bunow
News, information and research from Boston UniversityWed, 21 Sep 2011 18:14:24 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.6Northeast to buy NStarhttp://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/10/18/northeast-to-buy-nstar/
http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/10/18/northeast-to-buy-nstar/#respondMon, 18 Oct 2010 16:56:32 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/?p=7071Northeast Utilities, a Connecticut-based energy supplier, announced that it will purchase Boston-based NStar for $4.3 billion in stock. The merger will form a company with 3.5 million electric and gas customers in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and southern New Hampshire. SMG finance lecturer and an energy risk-management expert Mark Williams comments on the deal.

“Northeast Utlilities announcement to buy NStar for a whopping $4.3 billion is a further sign of consolidation that is happening in the U.S. utility industry. A main driver for this merger is reduction of overlapping cost structures. Providing energy services is increasingly a commodity business yet the twist is that utilities have monopolistic power. This power, and the ability to set price, is only countered by strong state public utility commissions. Its role is to make sure consumers receive dependable power at a fair price.

“The announced merger of Northeast and NStar could provide consumers with cost savings, but it will depend on the strength and ability of public utility commissions to advocate for rate paying consumers.”

]]>http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/10/18/northeast-to-buy-nstar/feed/0New antitrust guidelines for mergershttp://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/04/20/new-antitrust-guidelines-for-mergers/
http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/2010/04/20/new-antitrust-guidelines-for-mergers/#respondTue, 20 Apr 2010 22:43:20 +0000http://blogs.bu.edu/bunow/?p=5251U.S. antitrust regulators from the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have proposed new guidelines for how they scrutinize mergers for possible antitrust violations. Law Professor Keith Hylton, an antitrust law authority, and School of Management finance Professor Michael Salinger, a former FTC director, agree the proposed guidelines more accurately reflect current practice — but that only time will tell if they’ll work.

Hylton: “As defendants become better acquainted with actual practice, the FTC may find that it prefers to make further changes down the road.”

Salinger: “What remains to be seen is whether the courts will accept the less structured approach.”